Fabrication of Ti3+ Self‐doped TiO2 via a Facile Carbothermal Reduction with Enhanced Photodegradation Activities

Abstract Herein, we report a new and facile carbothermal reduction method to prepare Ti 3+ self‐doped titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) using inorganic carbon powder as a reducing agent. As‐prepared samples were thoroughly characterized by XRD, Raman, SEM, UV‐DRS, EPR, XPS, and BET. The photocatalytic activity of the as‐prepared nanomaterials was explored using the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under Xe light illumination. The self‐doped TiO 2 (TiO 2 ‐C 0.5 ‐600) exhibits high photodegradation activity with the degradation efficiency of 97% in 120 min. The improved performance could be because of the separation of photogenerated carriers and the narrowing of band gap due to the introduction of Ti 3+ and oxygen vacancy. Overall, our work demonstrates a simple, environmentally friendly, and economical synthesis method for narrowing the band gap and developing a highly photocatalytic material, thereby opening a new avenue in the field of wastewater treatment.